


Unperfect Harmony

by AmazingGraceH



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alex's and Luke's parents still suck, Alternate Universe, Bobby is not a good person, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, M/M, Reggie and Julie are siblings, Tour, Willex is background, no ghosts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:46:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29915721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmazingGraceH/pseuds/AmazingGraceH
Summary: Popstar Julie Molina has just finished her latest tour and her six-year contract. Fed up with her sellout image and terrible music, she decides to resign from Ace Records and instead venture into making music that she enjoys again. Problem is, nobody wants to sign her if she's not the product superstar the media loves.Sunset Curve had just finished their latest tour as well when Bobby drops the bomb that he is going solo. Problem is, without Bobby, Diamond Records is threatening to drop the other three boys in favor of promoting Bobby's career.Solution? Diamond Records agrees to sign Julie and re-sign the boys, but only if they form a new band called Julie and the Phantoms.Sounds great right? Especially since Julie and Reggie are siblings and she spent almost her whole life with the boys. Problem is, Julie and Luke dated for two years, broke up six years ago, and have been at each other's throats since.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 8
Kudos: 74





	1. Bright

“Julie! Julie! Julie!” The crowd cheered as Julie waited in the wings of the stage. She was in a hot pink leotard that was covered in sequences, with beads hanging off the end, mimicking a skirt. Her curls were pushed into a wig cap in favor of a bob-cut hot pink wig. Her face was decorated in pink paint and glitter. Even with all of the paint on her face, a frown was still visible. 

“Sad about your last show of the tour?” Flynn asked, coming up behind Julie.

“More like last ever show, and no I’m not sad,” Julie replied, fumbling with the bedazzled mic in her hand that served no use, seeing as her label made her lip sync anyways. “I’m so ready to be done with all of this,” Julie motioned towards her ensemble. 

“Have you decided if you are going to announce it to the audience tonight?”

“Yeah I’m not going to, I rather they just enjoy the show,” Julie answered, fixing her leotard. 

“Alrighty then, have a good show and remember that I love you,” Flynn said as she hugged Julie. Julie took in a deep breath, and then finally put on a smile. 

“Hey San Francisco, are you ready to party!”

***

_ Don't look down _

_ 'Cause we're still rising _

_ Up right now _

_ And even if we hit the ground _

_ We'll still fly _

_ Keep dreaming like we'll live forever _

_ But live it like it's now or never _

_ It's now or never (now or never) _

“It’s been fun Oakland!” Bobby said into the mic once the song finished. 

“We’re Sunset Curve!” Luke cheered.

“Tell your friends!” Reggie chimed in. The boys shuffled off the stage into the wings where the stage crew was waiting for them with towels and water. 

“I cannot believe the tour is over now!” Alex said before taking a huge swing of his water. 

“Yeah, this has been so much fun, I cannot wait for the next one,” Reggie said with a huge smile across his face, throwing one of his arms around Alex, and the other around Luke. 

“Since the tour is officially over, I have big news for you guys,” Bobby announced, grabbing the attention from everyone nearby. The boys all turned towards him; excitement stretched across their faces. Reggie hoped it was another tour, Luke hoped it was another album, and Alex hoped it was a big dancing music video. “I talked to our label and they agreed that it is a great idea. Once we get home tomorrow, I will no longer be in the band, they are resigning me as an official solo act.” All three boys face dropped, and their eyes were wide as could be.

“What the …”

***

“It’s just so great that both of your tours ended at the same time, now we can have a nice family dinner,” Ray said as he was setting the table. Julie and Reggie were both leaning against the counter and Carlos was playing some game on his phone. Over the past few years, it had been hard for both performer's schedules to line up to have regular family dinners, but they always tried to make it work. The oven timer dinged, and Reggie hurried over to grab the oven mitts to pull out the ham. Julie and Carlos grabbed some of the sides to add to the table. 

The family all headed towards the kitchen table and made small conversation as they loaded their plates up. The conversation mellowed for a few minutes as everyone started shoving their faces with food. 

“So Mija, now that your tour is done, what is planned next?” Ray asked. Julie bit her lip and set her fork down, knowing that her dad was going to ask this. 

“Well, you know, next week is the sixth anniversary of my contract being signed,” Julie started before Ray interrupted her. 

“Really it’s already been six years, time does sure fly by fast.”

“Yeah dad, but as you remember, my contract was for six years, so starting next week I will no longer be signed by Ace Records,” Julie shoved a spoonful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. 

“Wait Jules, please don’t tell me they didn’t want to resign you,” Reggie said, his eyes big, concern written across his face. 

“No, no, they really wanted me to resign but I just can’t do it anymore you know, being a product and not a musician,” Julie explained. 

“Oh, thank goodness,” Reggie cheered, his face going from concern to glee. 

“Good because your music sucked,” Carlos stated, finally joining in on the conversation. 

“Carlos!” Ray scolded, but before he could say anything else Julie cut him off,

“No, it's fine dad, he’s right,” Julie shrugged, “I don’t think there is a single song of ‘mine’ that I like.”

“So, what is your plan then?” Reggie asked, trying to change the conversation, not wanting to get into Julie’s song choices. Reggie never likes Julie’s music, but he always supported her regardless, and sure as hell was never going to mention it to her. 

“Try and find a record label that will let me create the music I want to create and shed the commercialize popstar image,” Julie explains. 

“Do you have any leads yet?” Ray asked. 

“A few, I’m not sure if they want me without the wigs and synthesized music though. I already know though that I rather never perform again than to perform another show singing those horrible songs in those ugly wigs.” 

“What about the fans, when are you planning to let them know?” Ray pried, his eyebrow raised. Julie tensed up, well tenser than she already was. The color in her face drained and her heart rate increased. No matter how much she hated what she had become, she could never hate her fans. They supported her and had been the driving force on why she kept up this act for the past few years. She didn’t want to let them down, but she couldn’t do this to herself anymore. 

“I don’t, I don’t know what to do about that,” Julie mumbled out, trying to hold back tears, but one still managed to fall out and down her cheek. 

“Oh Julie,” Reggie said, standing up and going over to her chair. He placed his arms around her neck in a sort of hug. 

“I’m sorry for pressing you about it Mija, let’s change the subject, Reggie what is Sunset Curve planning?” Ray’s face was soft, concerned for his daughter. Reggie walked back to his chair; his face pained. 

“Uh about that, I have some news,” everyone straightened up in their seats, “So, um Bobby told us last night that he is going solo so, yeah, we really don’t know what is happening next.”

“Oh no,” Ray said the same time that Julie said, “Not surprised.” 

“Julie!” It was now Julie’s turn to be scolded by her father. 

“What, he has always been sort of a dick. Well to me, always a full dick. He makes you guys worse, you can and will do so much better without him,” Julie explained, her saddened face now replaced with anger. 

“We know that we can do better without him, the problem is the label doesn’t necessarily believe that,” Reggie explained.

“That is bullshit, I’ll call them up right now and let them know what’s good for them,” Julie said, anger in her voice. She pulled out her phone and stood up. 

“Okay calm down slugger. No offense but I don’t think they are really going to listen to you,” Reggie said, placing his hand on top of Julie’s once she sat back down. “Right now, all we can do is wait.”

“How can you guys just sit around and wait for your future to be decided,” Julie said, her voice a little raspy. 

“Jules, trust me it is killing me, it’s killing us. Alex is currently babysitting Luke to make sure he doesn’t do anything that will end us for good. Just, let it go okay,” Reggie pleaded. With the mention of the guitarist's name, the table went dead silent. Reggie, realizing what he said, looked at his dad with an ‘oh shit’ face. Carlos looked between his two siblings, observing the drama with a little smile. 

“Carlos why don’t you tell your brother and sister about your last baseball game,” Ray chimed in, changing the subject. 

***

Later that night, Reggie was sitting on the couch watching a late-night talk show. Julie stood at the bottom of the stairs, in her pajamas, waiting a second before approaching her older brother.

“Look Reggie, I’m really sorry for getting on you earlier,” Julie said, taking a seat on the opposite end of the couch. 

“It’s okay Jules, I get it, I’m angry, I just wish there was something we could do,” Reggie shrugged. 

“Yeah, um can I get your advice? I, just, how do you think I should approach my fans about my career change?” Julie asked, looking up at her older brother. Reggie thought for a minute and then sighed,

“Honestly I would wait, like you said earlier you don’t know what you are doing next. Just wait until you can tell them what’s next,” Reggie explained, “And also, sorry for bringing up you know who… hey!” Reggie had been interrupted by Julie hit him in the face with a pillow. 

***

“Come on Flynn we are running late!” Julie called behind her as she speeds walked towards Diamond records. 

“Julie why are you running we are on time,” Flynn huffed, finally catching up to her best friend. 

“On time is late, I need to be at least 15 minutes early, this is my last chance Flynn,” Julie finally stopped at the big glass door, catching her breath. Flynn held her arms and looked Julie in the eyes. 

“I know that honey, but you are going to wow them. And hey, they signed your brother. A little nepotism never hurt anyone.” Julie was about to respond but someone shoved past her and hit her left shoulder. 

“Oh my God I’m so sorry,” the man apologized before meeting Julie’s eyes, “oh it’s you.” 

“Hey Luke, seems like you still haven’t learned those manners,” Julie sneered, crossing her arms against her chest. 

“Yup, must be something they teach products. Speaking of which, what are you even doing here, is someone here to buy you,” Luke rebutted. 

“Yup Luke, they sure are, they are going to make me into a doll. You could get one and rip my head off,” Julie replied, giving him a little pat on the shoulder and headed through the doors, with Flynn behind her.

“I see that you and your ex are still on great terms,” Flynn snickered. The two girls went and checked in and then sat in the waiting room for a little bit. 

After about 30 minutes after Julie scheduled appointment time, an assistant came down and got her. 

“I told you that you did not need to be in a rush.” Julie just rolled her eyes at her best friend and followed the assistant. They got into the elevator and Flynn gave a thumbs up to Julie from her seat in the waiting room. 

Julie and the assistant stayed in silence on the whole elevator ride up and the short walk to the conference room. Julie appreciated the silence though, it allowed her to try and calm down. To say she was nervous would be an understatement. This was her last chance to try and change her career, well at least for a while. Diamond records were the last major label to consider her, everyone else saying that they wanted the product of Julie Molina and not a new version of her. 

“So, we are going to cut to the chase, we want the popstar princess Julie Molina,” the women at the front of the room, April said. Julie’s heart dropped; her career was finished. Julie was about the excuse herself, knowing that she couldn’t hold her tears much longer. Before she could though April spoke up again, “we do have an alternate idea though, we found this video from about seven years ago and it really inspired us, and we were thinking..”

Julie didn’t hear the rest though, she got dizzy after that. Before about 2 months ago she thought that video had been erased from the internet forever, that is until someone from high school reposted it. 

_ Sunset Curve plus Julie were hanging out in the Molina garage/studio. Bobby was laying in one of the chairs, strumming on his guitar. Reggie was upside down in his chair, seeing how long it took him to get lightheaded. Alex was sitting in his chair, reading his book for class, junior English was no joke. Luke and Julie were sharing the couch, sharing a pair of earbuds, listening to music queued by Julie. Julie was snuggled into Luke’s side, one hand on her phone and the other holding the hand on the arm that wasn’t currently wrapped around her.  _

_ Not much talking was going on, everyone just enjoying everyone’s company. Julie was going through her Spotify playlists, trying to find something to get Luke's attention. She went through her Taylor Swift playlist and decided to play Better Than Revenge. When the song started, Luke gave a little chuckle and placed a kiss on her forehead. Julie tapped the beat into Luke’s arm, wiggling a little bit to dance. An idea sparked in Julie’s head, but she wasn’t a hundred percent sure about it yet. She played the song again, and then again, and then five more times. By the third time, Luke raised his eyebrow at her but besides that he just let her keep playing the song. He was the biggest simp for her.  _

_ “Hey uh guys, can I float an idea by you guys real quick,” Julie spoke up, her voice weak. The boys all stopped what they were doing. Luke scrunched his forehead, confused, and squeeze his girlfriend’s hand.  _

_ “What’s up Jules?” Reggie asked, leaning forward in his seat.  _

_ “So, you guys know how I’ve been posting covers on YouTube?” The boys all nodded, acknowledging that they knew about her YouTube channel. “Anyways, I was wondering if I could perform a cover with you guys and upload it. I get if you guys don’t want to-” Julie rambled before being cut off by Luke.  _

_ “Of course, we can record a cover with you, it will be fun.” _

_ “Yeah, of course, what song do you have in mind?” Reggie asked.  _

_ "Um, I know it’s not really your guy's style but, you know Better Than Revenge by Taylor Swift?” _

_ “Oh fuck yeah!” Alex replied, as the biggest Swiftie in the room.  _

_ “Of course!” Luke added in, leaning into her with a little laugh.  _

_ “Don’t you think we should discuss this as a band before we agree?” Bobby prompted, a frown on his face.  _

_ “What is there to discuss, it’s Julie,” Luke replied his face wrinkling in confusion once again.  _

_ “Well I rather not perform that song, it's girly and stupid,” Bobby said, crossing his arms.  _

_ “Really dude, I didn’t realize your masculinity was under attack,” Alex said, angrily.  _

_ “We always do things for Julie, Julie this, Julie that, last time I checked Julie isn’t in the band. I get she’s your sister Reggie, and your girlfriend Luke, but that doesn’t mean that all our lives revolve around her. Try telling her no once in a while why don’t you,” Bobby added in, now standing up. Luke stood up, about to get into Bobby’s face before Alex ran in between the boys. _

_ This wasn’t the first time that Bobby had made a comment about Julie. Most of the time she wasn’t around though, and they usually ended with Luke threatening to punch Bobby if he didn’t shut up. The few times that he had said anything to Julie were usually just snide comments that usually went along the lines of ‘of course we’ll do that for princess Julie’.  _

_ “Bobby go for a walk, now!” Alex said, his voice stern. Bobby didn’t move, starring into Luke’s eyes. “Bobby now, or I don’t hold Luke back or Reggie,” Alex motioned towards Reggie, who now had stood up. Bobby looked between the three boys, and realizing that he was outnumbered, decided to back down and head out the door, slamming it on his way out.  _

_ “Julie,” Luke said, meeting her eyes, which were glossed over.  _

_ “It’s fine, it was a stupid idea, I shouldn’t have brought it up,” Julie’s voice cracked as she forced out the last few words. She stood up, gathered her thing, and headed towards the house, speed walking.  _

_ “Julie!” Luke called after her, running to catch up.  _

_ “It’s fine Luke, I’m fine. You guys have your band, and I’m not going to interfere with that,” Julie said, a few tears streaming down her face.  _

_ “Julie you are not fine. And you aren’t just my girlfriend and Reggie’s sister. You are all our friends, well maybe not Bobby’s. But hell, you are my best friend, my extremely talented best friend and we would be honored to have you sing with us. Honestly between me and you, if you wanted to replace Bobby, I would be more than happy about that.” Luke whipped away the tears on her face and pulled her into a hug. Julie burrowed her face into Luke’s chest, trying to calm down her breathing so that she would stop crying.  _

_ Meanwhile, Reggie was tearing into Bobby outside. _

_ “You do not talk about my sister like that. She is our best friend and she is insanely talented. She just wanted to do something fun!” _

_ “I don’t care. The band is not Julie and the Sunset Curve, it’s just Sunset Curve. I would appreciate it if my opinion could be heard sometimes. It’s always what Luke and Julie want. They always make the decisions,” Bobby replied, his face red. _

_ “If you wanted your opinion to be heard then talk to us, you don’t snap at my sister!” Reggie yelled back. _

_ “I didn’t snap at her I snapped at all of you.” _

_ “You snapped at her suggestion, something she was already nervous about. You are going to in there and apologize to her and then we are going to record this cover with her,” Alex chimed in, stopping his pacing for a minute to speak.  _

_ “I will not apologize, and I will not perform that girly song. I’ll see you guys at the performance tomorrow,” Bobby said, and with that, he headed towards his car and drove off. Reggie looked at Alex and both boys just shook their heads at one another. Once they got back to the garage, Julie and Luke were already back, Julie sitting in Luke’s lap, while Luke played with her curls.  _

_ “Come on, let’s find some sheet music and get to rehearsing,” Reggie said, picking up his bass and walking over to his laptop. Julie looked at her boyfriend and then her other boys, noticing a lack of a guitar player.  _

_ “What about Bobby?” Julie asked.  _

_ “He left, he’ll just not perform the song with us, like I honestly give a fuck. Dude’s on my last fucking nerves anyways,” Alex answered, grabbing his sticks.  _

_ They ended up rehearsing all afternoon, and it was decided that Julie would perform the cover with them at their show the next day. Their show wasn’t too glamorous, it was just in the Molina’s driveway, with a bunch of their classmates coming to watch. Ray had agreed to videotape Julie’s performance with the boys for her YouTube channel.  _

_ When it was time for the cover, Bobby went and hid in the garage, not wanting to have any part of the performance. The song started with a preprogrammed ring tone. Alex took the mic and did the other women’s voicemail message.  _

_ “Hi, it’s me, leave a message, make it hot” _

_ Julie appeared from the garage to start the song, starting with the famous line. _

_ “Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did” Julie started singing, dancing around with Reggie and Luke, and serenading Alex when she could. The crowd was going wild for the performance. Eventually, she went over to her boyfriend and wrapped her arm around his shoulder to sing the next couple of lines. _

_ “I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at honey _

_ You might have him, but haven't you heard _

_ I'm just another thing for you to roll your eyes at honey _

_ You might have him, but I'll always get the last word” _

_She walked to the middle of their makeshift stage to hold out the long “whoa”. It was followed by Alex doing the other women’s part again. She finished up the lyrics and the boys each did an instrument solo. Luke did a big guitar solo, being the showoff that he is, and serenaded her with his playing. Julie just laughed; a big smile stretched across her face._

The video was uploaded onto her YouTube channel for a little bit. It had about thirty-thousand views, but after Julie and Luke broke up and Julie signed with Ace records, she deleted all of her videos. She thought it was whipped from the internet until an old high school classmate, who had been there that night and recording, posted her video, mooching off of both Julie and Sunset Curves clout. With both of their fanbases, the video had been impossible to delete from the internet. Julie had been quiet about the whole situation, and so had Luke. Reggie quoted the tweeted video, saying ‘Aw I miss jamming with my little sis <3’ and Alex commenting that Sunset Curve should do a Taylor cover. 

“Julie are you listening,” April said, snapping Julie out of her thoughts. 

“I’m really sorry, could you say that again.”

“As I was saying, we get that you don’t want to be a pop manufactured star anymore, so we are willing to try something. As you probably heard from your brother, but Bobby is going solo. We are willing to sign you with the three remaining boys, as a new band, _Julie and the Phantoms.”_ Julie starred at the packet being placed in front of her. She was lost for words. 

In another conference room, the three boys were hearing the same pitch. Reggie and Alex were ecstatic, a way to keep their brand alive, and join in with Julie, what could be better? Luke was silent, staring at the packet. 


	2. Wake Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie and the boys decide if they want to sign as Julie and the Phantoms.

That afternoon, Julie sat on the couch in the Molina’s studio, reading through the packet Diamond Records had given her. They had given her until the end of the week to decide, so three days. Reggie had called her about 20 times before she finally sent him a text saying that she needed some alone time to think about the decision. Reggie backed off but told her that they needed to talk before any decision was made. After reading the packet front to back for the third time, she pulled out a piece of paper and drew a line through it, making a pro and con list. 

Pros:

_Get to perform with Reggie and Alex_

_Get to perform music I actually like_

_Wardrobe change? Please_

_Maybe I could get back into writing_

_~~Edgy album covers~~ _

Cons:

_Luke_

She didn’t add any cons after Luke, even though she was pretty sure that there would be a few minor ones. Ever since they broke up over 6 years ago, all their interactions had been terrible. All they did was insult and roll their eyes at one another. How was she supposed to work with him every day, tour with him, or heck sing songs most likely about love with him? Julie picked up a pillow and screamed into it. 

“Hey, I was going to ask you how you are, but I think I got my answer,” Reggie said in the doorway. 

“Reggie! I told you I needed some alone time to think,” Julie said, taking her scream pillow and hugging it to her chest. 

“I know, but I promised dad I would help him install the new tv and well I knew you were in here. Couldn’t really stay away.” Reggie inched closer to his sister. “I just, we only have three days Julie, both of our careers are on the line!”

“I’ve been thinking all afternoon and I’m stuck,” Julie admitted, frowning. 

“Have you made a pros and cons list; you make those for everything?” Reggie asked, finally walking over to his sister, not afraid anymore that Julie was going to bite his head off. 

“I already made one, it just made me more stuck,” Julie replied. Reggie looked around and spotted the list on the table. He reached for it before Julie could stop him. “Reggie don’t look at that! Hey, give it back.” Julie desperately tried to pry it from his hands, but Reggie stood up, and with a few inches on her, was able to successfully keep it away. 

“Really Jules, you literally only have one con and you are stuck,” Reggie frowned, handing her back the list. 

“It’s a big con, Reggie! We can barely be in the same room. How are we supposed to be able to work together?”

“Julie let’s pretend Luke wasn’t involved, we had some unnamed guitar player. Would you still be stuck on your decision?” Reggie asked, looking her in the eyes. 

“Of course not, I would’ve signed immediately.”

“Okay then Julie, I love you but I’m going to be brutally honest with you. Grow up. It’s been over six years. You guys were teenagers and hell you were best friends for years. You are 22 now Julie, if you can’t work with someone you might not necessarily like, then maybe you need to reevaluate what you want to do in life.”

“Reggie, you don’t understand the situation…” Julie tried to explain before Reggie interrupted her,

“You’re right Julie, I don’t understand. You know why? Because neither of you has talked about what happened. Neither of you will tell Alex nor me about what happened and instead, we’ve just been stuck in the middle. When is the last time you talked to Alex huh? Both of you have been so obsessed over hating each other that Alex has lost someone that he considered a sister and I feel like I’ve actually lost my sister. Hell, how many times have you watched us perform in the last six years? You’ve refused to come to any of our parties, any of our big events, or just hang out with us because of him. Julie, I miss you and I feel like I’ve lost my sister.” Once Reggie’s speech was over, Julie was whipping a tear from her eyes and she had her scream pillow back against her chest, staring at the floor. “Oh fuck, Julie I’m sorry, that crossed a line.” Reggie sat down next to her. 

“No, you’re right Reggie. I’ve been selfish and I need to grow up,” Julie mumbled under her breath. Reggie threw his arm around her shoulders. “I want to join the band. It’s what I wanted when I was younger and now I actually have the opportunity and I can break free from the product I’ve become. It is stupid for me not to take the deal.”

“Still think about it, Julie okay, don’t make this decision just because I snapped at you, take the next couple of days,” Reggie said, giving her a half-smile. 

“How is he taking it, should I talk to him?” Julie asked, referring to her ex. Reggie gave a little laugh and then shook his head. 

“He is taking it about how you would expect it. Probably not the best idea to talk to him right now. Alex and I are giving him the afternoon and then we are confronting him tonight.”

***

“I don’t want to talk about it!” Luke yelled, trying to find an escape route. He was chilling on the couch in their shared house before his two housemates came up to him. The couch was against the wall so Alex and Reggie each position themselves in front of him on different sides so that he couldn’t run. 

“We don’t have much time to make a decision Luke, we need to talk about this. Reggie and I are already agreed that we both want to do it,” Alex said, crossing his arms against his chest, annoyed at his bandmate. 

“It would be a nightmare. She and I hate each other and we fight the whole time. And you’ve heard the kind of songs that she sings. Our styles would not mesh well.”

“First, you know that her music is not her style, even if she hasn’t said that to you Luke, you know better. And I’m going to be honest with you dude, it’s been six years, grow up. If you can’t work with someone because you don’t like them, then you are in the wrong business buddy,” Reggie snapped, stealing bits from his speech to Julie earlier. 

“I can work with people I dislike, spending every second of every day with someone I hate will be a disaster,” Luke replied, hugging one of the couch pillows to his chest. 

“Luke, we worked with Bobby for years and we all hated him for at least three, maybe more,” Alex said, giving his best-disappointed dad look. Luke buried himself further into the couch. 

“I don’t get why you guys are even having this conversation with me, it’s not like she would ever agree,” Luke huffed. 

“Well buddy do I have news for you, she already agreed. When I left dad’s house earlier she was on the phone with her lawyers,” Reggie said, crossing his arms against his chest and giving a smirk towards Alex. 

“What!” Luke exclaimed, sitting up a little. 

“Bobby about ended our career dude; we are lucky to even have this offer. Do you want to be a musician or not?” Alex asked. 

“And I get that you probably don’t care about Julie’s career, but what about Alex and I’s career dude? Don’t you care that without you agreeing you will be ending our careers as well?” Reggie added in. Luke took his pillow and screamed into it. Once he was done he groaned and dramatically flopped back on the couch. 

“Fine, call Diamond and tell them we are in,” Luke grumbled, and then buried his face into the couch. Reggie’s frown grew into a smile and Alex cheered loudly, already pulling out his phone to call their studio. 

***

Julie walked alone this time into Diamond Studios. Last Friday all of the paperwork was signed, lawyers involved, and everything. Julie and the boys signed separately since their contracts were a little different. Since the boys were already signed with Diamond as Sunset Curve, their contracts involved the dissolvement and resigning to new contracts. Julie was a completely new talent to the studio, so she had different paperwork. Julie had texted her older brother a little bit over the weekend, but she hadn’t seen her new band yet. Today, they were getting started on writing and producing songs. They couldn’t be a band without music, so Diamond had reserved one of their studio spaces for the band for the next two weeks to develop demo tracks for a future album. 

“Hey sellout,” a brunette man greeted her from behind as she reached out to open the door to the building. Julie turned her head to see Luke standing there with a cocky smile. 

“Hey Bobby’s backup guitarist,” Julie replied, throwing a half-wave. She opened the door and let go after she walked through, planning on letting it slam in Luke’s face. Luke was too fast and was able to grab it before it closed. Luke sped up so that he was right next to her as they both walked towards the elevators. 

“Wow, Julie, that kind of hurt knowing how much you dislike Bobby,” Luke said, putting his hand over his heart and pretended to be deeply hurt by her insult. 

“That was the point,” Julie smirked. The two waited for the elevator in silence after that. And then rode the elevator in silence. And then walked to the studio in silence. 

“Julie!” Alex yelled, running up to her and grabbing her into a big hug. “I haven’t seen you since Christmas.” 

“I missed you so much, Alex!” Julie wrapped her arms around the blonde. The two swayed back in forth in their hug for about a minute before finally breaking apart. 

“Nice to see you too,” Luke said as he patted Alex on the shoulder. 

“I literally saw you this morning when you yelled at me to shut up,” Alex replied, slapping Luke on the back. 

“You were screaming the Mean Girls Soundtrack while I was trying to sleep,” Luke snapped back. 

“Clearly you don’t have taste,” Alex said, “Aren’t I right Julie?”

“Yeah Luke, don’t harp on your friend because your music taste is trash,” Julie added in. 

“Really Julie, you are going to lecture me about music taste. Let me remind you of _Sunshine Sunshine, every day is sunshine_ ,” Luke said, singing the lyrics to one of Julie’s songs. 

“If my music is so bad, then how do you know the words?” Julie pointed out. 

“Don’t flatter yourself, the grocery store loves to play that song on repeat. I had to stop going to the one by our house because it got so bad,” Luke explained. 

“Sure.” Luke was about to reply but Alex cut him off.

“Alright enough, we need to get started, we only have two weeks to produce eight demo tracks.” Alex and Reggie headed towards the couch while Julie and Luke each took a chair. 

“Well, lucky for us, we have eight songs right here,” Luke stated, holding up his songbook before flipping it to the first dog-eared page. 

“Awesome! We can just spend the next two weeks tweaking them and recording them,” Reggie cheered, giving Luke a high-five. 

“Oh,” Julie said, fumbling with the strap of her bag, where her songbook was. 

“What’s up Julie?” Alex asked.

“I just thought that we would all be writing songs, I brought my book with some ideas,” Julie said, turning towards her bag and grabbing the book. It was the same one that she has had since she was 12.

“We already have songs,” Luke said bluntly. Reggie gave him a pointed look and then turned towards his sister. 

“We really don’t have a lot of time…” Reggie started to say, trying to figure out how to address the situation without escalating it. 

“How about we do seven of the songs Luke has already written and then you can write one this week,” Alex cut in. Julie nodded her head in agreement. 

“Just please don’t let it be anything like what you’ve been singing these past couple of years,” Luke cut in. 

“Luke, it might be a surprise to you, but I didn’t necessarily like those songs and had no hand in writing them so if you could stop acting like they define what I’m bringing to this band that would be much appreciated,” Julie snapped. 

“Okay that’s enough, let’s get started on some of these arrangements,” Alex said, diffusing the situation. 

The band worked the whole first week on finalizing and recording the songs. Even though Luke and Julie weren’t on the best terms, they weren’t dumb. They both knew in order to succeed they would be duetting a lot of the songs. Their voices meshed well, and it brought the songs together. They definitely fought a lot over who got which lines and Alex and Reggie, well mostly Alex, had to play referee. 

Most of the songs would start off with Julie playing the piano and singing, with the rest of the band eventually joining in. By the end of the week, the band had worked so hard and had seven of the eight songs they needed recorded. On Friday, they all sat down to discuss their eighth song.

“Alright Julie, what do you have for us?” Reggie asked once the band had all sat down, ready to start working. 

“Yeah about that, I thought I could write a song and I really tried. I just, I’m still struggling with writing after mom. The performing part, I’ve gotten to that point but I just, I’m sorry, I can’t,” Julie tried to explain. She looked at the three boys, their faces dropped. She had already let them down and they are only a week into this band. She had really tried all week, to try and write down even a lyric, but she couldn’t. She stood up and took a couple of steps out of the room, needing to get some air, it felt like the walls were closing in on her. 

_Although she would occasionally help Luke write songs for Sunset Curve, most of her songwriting was with her mom. When Rose got sick, she wasn’t able to do as many musical things with her children, especially Julie. Reggie tried to help fill the gap first, sitting down at the piano with his sister. It lasted about 10 minutes before they both gave up, Reggie nowhere near filling the gap of his mom. Reggie and Rose turned to Luke to try and help her, seeing as they worked together before. But helping with a couple of lyrics for a couple of songs for Sunset Curve was nothing compared to trying to replace her mom. Every time they would try to write anything, they would just end up fighting. It got to the point where the two couldn’t even collaborate on a few lyrics for a Sunset Curve song._

_“Stop trying to force this, it isn’t working!” Julie had screamed one day, standing up from the piano bench that she was sharing with her boyfriend._

_“Julie, I’m just trying to help,” Luke pleaded as he stood. He tried to grab her hand, but she pulled away._

_“You’re trying to replace her but guess what you can’t okay. I just want to work with my mom.”_

_“I’m not trying to replace her Julie, I could never. I’m just trying to…” Luke wasn’t able to finish before Julie cut him off._

_“Help, I know. That’s what everyone is trying to do, help. Does anyone stop and think that maybe I don’t need help, I’m fine!”_

_“Yeah you sound fine,” Luke said with a bite behind his words. Julie just stared at him and shook her head._

_“Don’t talk to me!” She said and then slammed the door to the studio and ran towards her room. Luke tried to run after her, but she was too fast and was able to lock herself in her room before he could catch up._

_“You want to explain why my daughter was crying and running to her room?” Rose asked from the living room couch. Luke didn’t even see her at first._

_“We had another fight while trying to write. She just wants to write with you,” Luke explained, taking a seat in the chair next to the couch._

_“I know, I know. I don’t know how much time I have left Luke; I need you to promise me that you’ll make sure that she keeps with music. She’s so insanely talented and she loves it, I just don’t want her to give it up for me.”_

_“I’ll try Rose, I really will. I just don’t know if she will listen to me I just-” Rose cut Luke off,_

_“No Luke, I need you to promise me okay.” Her eyes were desperate, which one would have to be to force a 16-year-old to make a difficult promise._

_“I promise,” Luke had replied, staring at the floor._

“Hey, it’s alright,” Reggie said, finding his sister breathing heavily outside the room. 

“I’m so sorry, I thought I was ready to write again but I guess I’m not. Let’s just use one of Luke’s songs. It was dumb for me to even try,” Julie said, pacing in a little circle. 

“Hey, it’s fine, we still have a week, it’s no big deal. I guess I didn’t realize that you were still struggling to write, can we talk about that later?” Reggie asked, placing a hand on Julie’s shoulder. Julie just nodded towards her brother. The door to the studio opened and Luke poked his head up. 

“Just drop it, Luke,” Julie said, not feeling like fighting with him. 

“I wasn’t going to uh,” Luke started to say, surprised, “Um, I was just going to say we could do Edge of Great, I think you’ll, uh, I think you will both like it.” 

“Sounds good man, let’s get started,” Reggie said, patting Luke on the shoulder and headed back into the room. Julie and Luke just stared at each other for a second before Luke broke the silence.

“Um, how long has it been since you wrote?” 

“Like you care,” Julie snapped. 

“Julie.”

“Not since she died Luke okay.” Luke bit his lip, trying to decide if he should say anything. Before he could though, Julie pushed past him and headed back into the room. 

By the end of the workday, all of Julie and the Phantoms demos were officially all recorded. All they had to do was send it to the big wigs to get approved and notes over the weekend and then they were all set, a whole week early. 

“Hey Julie, do you want to hang out at our place this weekend?” Alex asked as the band was gathering their things and getting ready to leave. 

“Honestly thank you for the invitation,” Julie said, remembering what Reggie had said to her last week, “But honestly I think I’m just going to spend the whole weekend sleeping, it’s been a few chaotic weeks for me, hell months.” 

“Makes sense, we should probably do the same. Who knows how many days off we’ll get in the next few months. Let us know if you change your mind though,” Alex replied.

***

On Monday morning the band all arrived at the studio in a good mood. Their demos were done, and they had spent the whole weekend relaxing and recharging. Heck, even Luke and Julie hadn’t argued once yet. That is until April showed up to deliver some news.

“What do you mean we can’t do half of our songs!” Luke yelled. The rest of the band’s eyes were wide in shock. 

“It seems like some of the songs you guys recorded were co-written by Bobby. He already recorded them, and they’ve been approved,” April explained. 

“He didn’t write them, he added like 4 words to each one, they are mine, I mean, they are our songs.” Luke went to his songbook and started flipping towards the songs in question. 

“Look, the higher-ups are giving them to him. You guys need to remember they are investing more into him than you guys. We need four more songs by the end of the week,” April told them and then handed Julie the list of songs that were a no-go. April then left, not wanting to be near the angry band any longer. 

“What’s the damage?” Reggie asked Julie, referring to the list of songs.

“Get Lost, Long Weekend, Crooked Teeth, and My Name is Luke,” Julie read off. 

“How is he allowed to have My Name is Luke, my name is Luke!” Luke pointed to himself to emphasize his point. 

“Look, we are all pissed, but we have four songs to write and record in less than a week, let’s take a recess and calm down, and then we can come back and get started,” Alex said, trying to calm everyone down. The band eventually left the room, with Alex and Reggie dragging Luke away from his songbook. The four went outside the building and just walked around for a bit. They chatted a little, but mostly cursed out Bobby. Luke and Julie kept their arguing to a minimum, they were too busy having a common enemy. 

When they got back to their studio a couple of hours later, they were met with a smiling April. 

“Oh, my goodness, the executives loved all the songs you guys left them. They choose their favorite four and they are excited for you guys to record them.”

“What songs are you talking about?” Luke asked. The whole band was very confused. April pulled out two books from her bag that the band immediately recognized. One book was very clearly Luke’s songbook and the other was very clearly Julie’s. 

“The big wigs decided that they wanted Wake Up, Still Into You, Perfect Harmony, and Unsaid Emily,” April read off her sticky note that was stuck to Julie’s book. Both Julie and Luke’s eyes went wide, and the rest of the band was silent. Finally, Luke broke the silence,

“Oh Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hi. Updates will most likely not be every day but I had this chapter ready so I said screw it.


	3. Finally Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie and Luke have to record songs that they never wanted the world to know about and Bobby drops some news.

“April I didn’t leave my songbook for those songs to be read,” Luke tried to explain. 

“Same,” Julie added.

“I can write 4 more songs by the end of the week it will be no problem.”

“We can get it done by Friday, just please not those songs.”

“It doesn’t matter, the executives really loved these four songs and you don’t really have much negotiation power right now. You need to remember that this band is their least priority right now and that your contract can be ended with a snap of a finger,” April responded, a hint of sympathy on her face. Luke, frustrated, flopped down on the couch with a loud groan. Julie would usually roll her eyes at his dramatics but right now she felt the exact same way. 

“Did they give any alternatives?” Alex asked, finally speaking up. Reggie and Alex really didn’t understand what the big deal was. Well, they understood a little. They knew that Unsaid Emily was a song that Luke wrote about his mom, and Reggie knew that Wake Up was a song that his mom wrote. But the other two songs neither had ever heard about. 

“Well, they really loved Amnesia, but with Unsaid Emily, they thought two sad songs were too many. Maybe they will let you switch the two,” April replied with a frown. 

“Absolutely not!” Luke defended, sitting up on the couch, all the color draining from his face. April was not blind to the very obvious tension in the room, and she very much wanted to leave. 

“It looks like you guys have a lot of work to do, I’m just going to leave. Let me know if you guys need anything.” And with that, April escaped, handing Julie, who was closest to the door, both books with the sticky note. Luke immediately stood up and walked over to Julie. 

“Give me that,” he said as he snatched his book out of her hands. 

“Alright, I’m going to say it, what the fuck was that?” Reggie asked, looking between his sister and friend. 

“Yeah, could you please enlighten us on why you both have your panties in a twist?” Alex added, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Wake Up was written by mom,” Julie replied after a few moments of silence. “I guess it’s fine, but we have to make sure that she gets credited as a writer.” 

“Unsaid Emily is about my mom obviously. I guess maybe it’s time to perform it, I don’t know, maybe she will kill me. I guess who cares, it’s not like I’ve talked to her in a few years anyway,” Luke explained. Everyone, including Julie, gave him a sad look. They sat in more silence for a couple of moments before Reggie broke it. 

“What’s the big deal with Still Into You, Jules?” The other two boys turned their heads towards her. Julie swallowed hard and hugged her book towards her chest, using it as a security blanket. 

“It’s the last song that I finished. I uh, I was fifteen.” Alex gave her a knowing look, realizing what she was implying. Reggie was just confused, and Luke looked confused, and although he would deny it to himself, deep down he knew. Julie unwrapped the book from her, bookmarked the page, and held it out. Reggie took the bait first and grabbed the book. The other two boys, curious, got up and stood behind Reggie, peering at the words written. 

_Even though Luke and Julie only dated for about 2 years, they had been best friends for years beforehand. Reggie and Luke met on the first day of Kindergarten and became fast friends after that. With Luke always at the Molina’s, naturally Julie and Luke became close, only being a year apart. As they got older, the two became closer, and although Reggie was furious at first, he grew to understand. Reggie had Alex and it wasn’t like Luke abandoned him, they were still very close._

_They defiantly fought a lot; they were both passionate people. And until a couple of months before their breakup, they always talked and made up. They fought about music, they fought about not spending enough time together, and they fought about his parents, more specifically his mother._

_ Can't count the years on one hand that we've been together  _

_ I need the other one to hold you  _

_ Make you feel, make you feel better  _

_ It's not a walk in the park to love each other  _

_ But when our fingers interlock, can't deny, can't deny, you're worth it  _

_ 'Cause after all this time  _

_ I'm still into you  _

_ I should be over all the butterflies but I'm into you, I'm into you  _

_ And even baby our worst nights  _

_ I'm into you, I'm into you  _

_Julie knew Emily Patterson. Birthday parties, barbeques, playdates, and all the other times one would see their best friend’s mother. When they became teenagers, they stopped spending time at Luke’s. All Luke would do was fight with his parent and he didn’t want his friends to witness it, specifically Julie. But finally, after about 9 months of dating, Luke gave in and he and Julie went to his house for dinner with his parents. Luke tried to warn Julie, but at the time she didn’t understand how much the parent son relationship had deteriorated._

_The dinner had started normal, they made light conversation while filling their plates. But when music got brought up, the night took a turn for the worst. They went off about how music was not Luke’s future, it couldn’t be. When Julie tried to step in, after Luke had told her not to, it got worse. The Patterson’s had turned on Julie, blaming her. They said that she was responsible for ruining Luke’s life. They probably would have said more but Luke grabbed his keys, then grabbed Julie, and slammed the door._

_They had a tearful conversation in his car, Julie holding Luke’s hand the whole time. After a few moments of silence, Julie told Luke she loved him for the first time. Luke brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, before telling her he loved her. On the way back to her house they sang his favorite songs._

_Julie knew Emily Patterson, but that night she met Emily Patterson._

_ Recount the night that I first met your mother  _

_ And on the drive back to my house I told you that, I told you that I loved ya  _

_ You felt the weight of the world fall off your shoulder  _

_ And to your favorite song we sang along, to the start of forever  _

Reggie stared at the book, Alex bit his lip, and well Luke, Luke starred right at her. 

“Oh, so it’s a love song,” Reggie stated, sneaking a glance at Julie.

“Yup.”

“And you wrote it when you were fifteen.”

“Yes Reggie.”

“So, it’s uh-“

“Yes Reggie, it’s a love song I wrote about Luke when we were dating seven years ago. Now you can see why I’m not super thrilled to be recording it.” Julie rolled her lip in and looked down, not wanting to make eye contact with any of the boys. She heard Luke clear his throat. She cringed in anticipation of whatever snarky remark he was going to make. “Luke, just say whatever dick comment you are going to make and get it over with.”

“You know I probably would if I wasn’t in the same boat. Perfect Harmony is a song I wrote for you when I was sixteen,” Luke replied, staring at the wall behind her head. Alex just shook his head.

“What in the Fleetwood Mac.”

***

The next couple of days were awkward, to say the least. Well, awkward and busy. They worked on the four songs and worked on some of the arrangements before recording the demos. They thought that they were done on Thursday, but April appeared once again, sticky notes in hand. 

“They loved almost all of the demos; I just have a couple of notes for a few of the songs. The big one though is they want Perfect Harmony to be a duet.” Which lead to a lot of arguing. All-day Thursday the two exes fought over lines, word changes, and harmonies. Finally, by the end of Friday, they were all done, and everyone was dead tired. 

“Hey Julie, do you want to come hang out at our place?” Alex asked as the band was packing up their things and getting ready to leave. Julie stopped to think about it. She had just spent the last two days full-out fighting with Luke and really didn’t want to be in his presence, especially with how tired she was. 

“I’m sorry Alex, but I’m just exhausted. I really just want to go home and lay in my bed for twelve hours.” Julie noticed Alex’s face drop and then he gave her a quick nod of understanding. Fuck, Julie thought. Reggie’s speech from a couple of weeks ago popped back into her head. “But we should definitely get coffee tomorrow and catch up Alex.” Alex’s smile returned and he nodded again. 

Julie and Alex ended up having coffee together the next day. Well the two of them plus Luke, Reggie, and their entire management team. 

“So, he just gets to get away will ruining both his and our schedule. There was a plan!” Luke shouted at the conference table. Julie put her elbows on the table and rested her face in her hands. Alex was nervously twitching, sliding around in his seat. Reggie just sat there, still for once, and his face had zero emotion on it. 

Bobby had decided last night while he was getting ‘chased’ by paparazzi to announce to the world that he was going solo. Bobby loved being in the tabloids and after a late-night of clubbing, decided to get in another one. There was a clear plan, once Bobby’s and Julie and the Phantom’s new music was ready, they were going to announce the news and drop their new music in the same week. Their demos were recorded but they still had to officially record the songs.

“This is what we are going to do,” one of the PR Reps, Danni, spoke up. “Julie, I liked the teasing photos that you did with Reggie and Alex last week.” Danni was referring to the photos that Julie and the two boys put on their Instagram. Reggie and Julie both posted a goofy selfie of the two of them. Reggie’s had said _My sister is better than your sister_ while Julie’s had said _I got all of the look_ , which Reggie had commented _I’m adopted!._ Julie had posted a photo of her pretending to play Alex’s drums, and the drummer standing behind her looking angry while Alex posted a similar photo, except in his he was in motion, pretending to attack Julie. Julie’s caption had said _graphic design is my passion,_ while Alex’s had said _snitches get stitches._ “I think it would be a good idea if Luke and Julie posted a photo, alluding that they were working together. You are the only two that really haven’t had any social media interactions over the years so fans will catch on real quick that something is happening and that Julie isn’t just hanging with her brother.”

“How about after this meeting you two go to the rehearsal studio and snap a picture and post it, we need to give the fans something immediately,” April suggested. Danni nodded her head and the two musicians in question just gave half-smiles in agreement. They knew what they needed to do, and even though they didn’t like it, this was their job. 

“After that, I need you guys in the recording studio for the rest of the weekend. We need Bright recorded immediately. We will release it as a single on Friday, along with the new band announcement. After that, I need you guys to start rehearsing Bright until it is perfect. I’m going to start calling around and try to fit you guys into performance spots for talk shows. In all of this, we need to start recording the rest of the album. If things go to plan and fans get hyped up, I want the album dropped by the end of the month,” Danni explained. The band's faces were drained. They knew that it was going to be a fast pace, wanting to get ahead of the drama before things got bad. The original plan had them all doing this in two months, not three weeks. 

After a few more instructions, the band was dismissed, and they headed down to the rehearsal studio. 

“So, what do you guys want to do for this photo?” Alex asked, getting his phone ready to take a picture. 

“I really don’t care,” Luke shrugged, popping a squat on one of the stools. Julie rolled her eyes and sat down on another stool.

“Can we just get this over with, we have a lot to get done.” 

“Oh, I like the stools, Luke get your guitar, Julie pull your keyboard over here,” Reggie directed, and then headed over to the light switches. He turned off all of the lights except for the ones over the stools. Luke and Julie each got their instruments and sat back down, starring Reggie for their next instruction. “Awesome, now look like you guys are playing. Luke, look down at your guitar and pluck around a little bit. Julie, same with you. I want you to look at the keys and press some down.”

“What are you going for?” Luke asked while following Reggie’s instructions. 

“I think if we make you guys look like you are writing a song that people will get the message pretty clearly,” Reggie explained. 

“Wait, I’m kind of digging it,” Alex said, and then started taking a bunch of photos of the two. Julie and Luke just kind of went with it. They were too tired and stressed to really care, and it’s not like they really had any better ideas. After a few hundred photos, or what felt like it, Alex was done. He started scrolling for the best ones and then sent them to the two. 

**JulieMolina posted a new photo**

_JulieMolina:_ _I wanna be a cowboy baby…. I wanna be a cowboy baby_

**AlexMercer, ReggiePeters, and 5000 others commented on JulieMolina’s photo**

_AlexMercer: Thank the heavens you are actually playing your own instrument_

_ReggiePeters: Does… does this mean you are getting into country music?_

_JulieMolinaFan2020: Is Julie joining Sunset Curve now that Bobby is gone?_

_SunsetCuver69: God I hope she isn’t joining the band, girl’s songs are annoying as fuck_

_LukeMarryMe420: Omg why do they look so good together!_

**LukePatterson posted a new photo**

_LukePatterson: Yeet (Yeet) Skrt (Yeet) Yeet (Skrt) Skrt (Skrt) Roll up (Yeet) Drop that (Yeet) Skrt that (Yeet) Pop that (Yeet) Ayy, ayy, ayy, ayy_

**AlexMercer, ReggiePeters, and 2500 others commented on LukePatterson’s photo**

_AlexMercer: I don’t want to be your friend anymore_

_ReggiePeters: Hey look it’s my sister_

_AlexsDrums: LUKE PLEASE TELL ME JULIE ISN’T JOINING THE BAND SHE IS TERRIBLE._

_LukesFutureWife: Are u guys dating?_

_SunsetCurveNumberOneFan: What happened to Bobby?_

_“_ Wow you are so funny,” Julie told Luke, rolling her eyes. 

“Thanks,” Luke replied ignoring her sarcasm, “My first caption was ‘it’s always nice to do some charity work’ but I changed it.” 

“You’re an ass,” Julie replied and walked away, leaving Luke who had a smirk on his face. 

**ReggiePeters posted a new photo**

(Photo of Alex, Reggie, Luke at age 10 and Julie at age 9. They are in bathing suits in front of a pool. Julie and Luke are in the middle and Alex and Reggie are on the left and right, respectively. They all have goofy smiles on their faces and all of their arms are around each other). 

_ReggiePeters: Approximately taken 20 minutes before @AlexMercer and I dominated in an epic game of chicken._

**AlexMercer, JulieMolina, LukePatterson, and 1500 others commented on ReggiePeter’s photo**

_AlexMercer: Dream Team 😊_

_JulieMolina: REGGIE THIS IS DURING MY AWKWARD YEARS PLEASE NO_

_LukePatterson: Reggie you still have the same amount of abs._

_SunsetSurveFan42069: IS THIS HINTING AT SOMETHING?!?!?_

_Oddball6969: pls Reggie, I get that she is your sister, but she cannot sing with you guys._

**AlexMercer posted a new video**

(A video of Julie and Alex at age 14 and 15 singing to Dancing Queen. They are also doing a full choreographed dance.)

_AlexMercer: @LukePatterson and @ReggiePeters could never_

**JulieMolina, LukePatterson, ReggiePeters, and 2000 others commented on AlexMercer’s video**

_JulieMolina: WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS!_

_LukePatterson: Bro you are going to eat your words soon._

_ReggiePeters: HEY!_

_ReggiesBass: WHAT IS GOING ON_

**LukePetterson posted a new video**

(A video of Luke and Reggie singing Dancing Queen and copying young Julie’s and young Alex’s exact dance moves)

_LukePetterson: @AlexMercer fight me_

**JulieMolina, AlexMercer, ReggiePeters, and 3000 others commented on LukePatterson’s video**

_JulieMolina: I’m offended_

_ReggiePeters: Take that Alex!_

_AlexMercer: You wish you were as good as us._

_SunsetSimp: OMG JULIE ACTUALLY COMMENTED ON ONE OF LUKE’S POSTS_

_JulieFan4206996: Just tell us what’s going on._

**DiamondRecords posted a new reel**

(The video from about 7 years ago of Julie performing Better Than Revenge with the boys)

_DiamondRecord: 😉_

**JulieMolina, AlexMercer, ReggiePeters, LukePatterson, and 8000 others commented on DiamondRecord’s reel**

_JulieMolina: Song fucking slaps, but I should say that I don’t endorse the message of the song._

_AlexMercer: TAYLOR MARRY MEEE_

_ReggiePeters: My sister is more talented than yours_

_LukePatterson: I think I peaked in life with this guitar solo_

_JuliesMicrophone: HOLY FUCK THIS IS BASICALLY CONFIRMING SOME SORT OF COLLAB_

_DaddySunset: Holy fuck Julie can actually fucking sing holy shit_

_SunsetPie: This doesn’t mean she should be in the band._

_JukeBox49: Look at the way Julie and Luke looked at each other <3 _

The band was fucking exhausted. They spent the whole weekend recording Bright and a couple of their other songs. They then spent Monday through Thursday rehearsing Bright. They were a new band now and there had to be adjustments made. They had to learn how to perform together again, well, more like Luke and Julie had to learn how to perform together again. 

On Monday, Julie had struggled with performing a song live. She had been out of practice for a couple of years. 

“When’s the last time you didn’t lip-sync,” Luke had snapped, irritated after Julie had messed up the intro for the third time in a row. 

“Luke when’s the last time you kept your fucking mouth shut,” Julie had snapped back. 

“How about you both shut the fuck up and let’s just rehearse,” Alex had snapped at both of them. 

“If you two could not look like you hate each other,” April said on Thursday afternoon, after watching the band perform after four days of practice. 

“Kind of hard when they do,” Alex mumbled. April gave him a pointed look and then turned back towards the problem children. 

“I don’t care how the two of you feel about each other. I want the chemistry that I saw in that video. If you want the world to care about you guys, you need to act like you care about each other. Take five and come back with smiles,” April snapped and then wrote something down on one of her sticky notes. Julie turned towards her brother and gave him a look. 

“Don’t look at me, I am very much not on your side Julie.” Luke snickered across the stage. “I’m not on yours either Luke. Fix your shit please so that we can actually have a chance at being successful.”

“You two go talk before Reggie and I lock you guys into a closet and make you guys do it anyway,” Alex added. Julie rolled her eyes at Luke and started heading for the door. When she got to the door and realize that Luke hadn’t followed her she turned around and faced towards him. 

“Are you coming or not?”

“Yes, your majesty,” Luke huffed and then walked towards the door and followed her. Once the two had finally made it out in the deserted hallway, they starred at each other for a second before Julie decided to speak up. 

“Can we just like pretend we don’t hate each other on stage. Like, I want this to work, you want this to work.” 

“Yeah sure,” Luke shrugged. They both nodded and walked back in. 

“That took like a single minute. You two did not work through 6 years of hatred in one minute!” Alex yelled the second he saw the two walked back through the door. 

“Just trust us dude, we will perform like best friends,” Julie replied confidently. In truth, she had zero confidence. 

***

**Julie to Julie and the Phantoms**

(Julie sent a screenshot of Bobby’s Instagram post. It was a picture of his new single, ‘My Name is Bobby’, album cover. The photo was of him in jeans and a white t-shirt that was soaking wet. The caption read _New single release tonight at midnight PST)_

_Julie: As a female who likes males, DISGUSTING_

_Alex: As a male who likes males, DISGUSTING_

_Luke: He stole my song and then CHANGED THE NAME_

_Reggie changed the group chat name to #BobbyHateClub_

_Reggie: What time are they dropping our news?_

_Reggie: Also, Julie, tell dad that the boys and I are 5 minutes out._

_Julie: Who is texting AND DRIVING!_

_Luke: IT WAS A RED LIGHT_

Julie sat in the Molina’s living room while waiting for the boys. It was Thursday night and at 8 pm, Diamond Records was going to release the news that Julie had merged with the remaining members of Sunset Curve and that their new single Bright was also going to drop at midnight. Ray wanted to invite the band over tomorrow for a celebratory dinner but had to change it to today since the band was performing and interviewing on the Late Late Night Show with Billy Williams. Diamond Records had gotten Bobby on the Late Night Show with Caleb Covington. 

Julie was nervous about dinner. This was the first time that she and Luke had been at a family dinner, or hell even in the Molina’s house together, since about 6 years ago. They had managed to put their differences aside for the rest of rehearsal that afternoon, but the bickering started up right after. 

“Honey I’m home,” Reggie yelled as he and the boys walked through the door. Ray emerged from the kitchen, wiping his hands with a dishtowel. He walked up to the boys and gave them all hugs. Carlos came down the stairs and ran up to give all the boys fist bumps. They all piled into the kitchen and all took their seats at the table. 

“So, are you guys excited about the news coming out tonight, I know it is earlier than expected?” Ray asked. The boys all had food stuffed into their cheeks, so Julie spoke up first. 

“A little, I’m honestly more nervous about the reception. We really don’t have any other options right now, so I really want this to work out,” Julie admitted before taking a bite of her chicken. Ray gave her a knowing nod before turning his attention towards the boys. 

“I mean, I’m nervous but like I think our songs are fucking awesome! I think we will be just fine,” Reggie said, putting a hand on Luke’s and Alex’s shoulders and shaking them a little. Dinner went okay, to say the least. Julie and Luke were the most nervous out of the band about the release, which kept them pretty quiet. The band plus Ray and Carlos sat in the living room waiting for eight pm to hit. They all had their phones and laptops, the tabs switching between Instagram, Twitter, and the Google News Tab with Julie and the Phantoms in the search engine. Right at eight, Diamond Records released their statement on Instagram and Twitter, as well as a couple of music news websites. 

**DiamondRecords posted a photo on Twitter**

(The photo was of a document with the official statement that read: _With Bobby Wilson officially leaving Sunset Curve, Julie Molina (previously signed to Ace Records) with be joining the remaining three members of Sunset Curve (Patterson, Peters, and Mercer) to form a new band called Julie and the Phantoms. Tonight, at Midnight PST their first official single, Bright, will be released on all Streaming Services. They will also be appearing on the Late Late Night show where they will be speaking with Billy Williams and then performing their new single. Julie Molina, a solo artist, started her career 6 years ago and released Billboard Number One Hits Sunshine, Lover, and Happy Nights. Her first three albums all went Platinum and her fourth went Gold. Patterson, Peters, Mercer, and Wilson formed Sunset Curve 10 years ago (when they were 13 years old). When they were 18, they signed to Diamond Records where all three of their albums have gone gold. Their song, Now or Never, was Billboards Number One song for 8 weeks straight.)_

**5000 replys to DiamonRecords tweet.**

_SunsetNoticeMe: Who thought adding Julie was a good idea, girl can’t sing._

_ReggiesBassStrap: Seriously, who actually thinks Julie will fit in with the boys._

**JulieMolina posted a new photo**

(The photo was of their single cover, which was the four of them wrapped around each other. From left to the right it went Reggie, Julie, Luke, and Alex. They were dressed in an array of purples, blues, and blacks. The background also was purple with smoke.)

_JulieMolina: From their first fan to joining the band._

**ReggiePeters and 7000 others commented on JulieMolina’s post.**

_ReggiePeters: Hey that kind of rhymed._

_JulieMolinasBiggestFan: You all thought you were slick 😊_

Reggie, Alex, and Luke all posted the same photo. 

_ReggiePeters: Look dad!_

_AlexMercer: Finally, someone in this band who appreciates my music taste._

_LukePatterson: Surprise Bitch, you thought you saw the last of me._

After all day Friday, Bobby’s song and Julie and the Phantoms were about tied in numbers. There had been a lot of support for the new band, but angry fans were still going off on social media, a lot of them refusing to listen to the song. Julie didn’t necessarily blame them. Her previous music was bad, and her old studio would add a lot of stuff on top of her vocals. They had no reason to believe that she actually had the vocals. Well, if they listened to their new song or watched the Better Than Revenge video they would know. 

Julie’s fans were also a little bit disappointed. The artist had done a complete 360 from the music that they were such a big fan of. Still, most of them were supportive and open to the change, which Julie appreciated. 

Friday night the band sat in the green room of the Late Late Night show. Their phones were taken away by April. She did not want them to watch or see anything about Bobby’s current interview. No matter what he said, it would just rile up the band and she needed them to be their best out there. 

“Julie and the Phantoms, you are on in five,” one of the PAs said, peaking their head into the green room. The band was nervous. Julie was sitting in her own chair, staring at the floor. Reggie sat on the left side of the couch, bouncing his leg up and down. Alex was tapping on his legs, his eyes darting everywhere. Luke was pacing the room, head down. Finally, the five minutes were up, and the band was escorted towards the stage. Billy Williams sat at his hosting desk. Next to him was a couch, angled so that it was facing the audience and the desk at the same time. Behind the couch were two stools. Luke and Julie were instructed to sit on the couch, as the frontman and frontwoman of the band. Reggie sat in the stool behind Julie and Alex took the stool behind Luke. Their mics were clipped on and they were ready to go. 

“Julie and the Phantom’s everyone,” Billy introduced as the audience cheered. The band gave a wave to the audience. “It so great to have you guys on. So, I thought that first, we would address the elephant in the room. How did this come to be?”

“Well with Sunset Curve, Bobby decided that he wanted to go off and do his own thing and we weren’t going to get in the way of that,” Alex said, reciting what was in the PR memo. 

“So, is there any bad blood?” Billy asked. 

“Nope, we are all good,” Alex lied as the rest of the band kept their faces neutral. 

“And then my contract was up with my old studio and I wanted to try something new you know. Well, not necessarily new. I wanted to go back to the music that I sang more in my early teens,” Julie explained. 

“So, will you ever go back to your old material?” Billy followed up. Julie put on her best fake smile. 

“Well, never say never you know. As of right now, I don’t have any plans too but that doesn’t mean never,” Julie lied. She would never perform any of those songs again. 

“And then you see, Julie is my sister and we were talking. We needed a fourth member and she wanted to go back to her roots. It was perfect! We discussed it with our record company and then the band was formed,” Reggie finished. Although there was truth in a lot of what they said, a lot of it was a lie. 

“You know, I didn’t even realize until I was prepping for this interview that the two of you were siblings,” Billy stated, pointing to the two siblings. 

“Yeah, most people don’t,” Reggie laughed. “I was adopted when I was a newborn by the Molina family because our parents didn’t think they could have kids. Then my mom got pregnant with Julie right after and then our little brother Carlos ten years later.”

“Ah, that explains the last names,” Billy said. 

“And the skin tones,” Julie laughed. 

“So, Luke you’ve been quiet, is it true that you were all friends when you were little?” Billy pried, starring at the guitarist. Luke put on a charming smile before answering his question. 

“Yeah, I meet Reggie on the first day of Kindergarten and we’ve been best friends ever since. We meet Alex in third grade and were attached to him since. And Julie was only a year younger than us, so she tagged along as well.” Julie was a little annoyed with Luke’s answer. He made it seem like she was just the annoying little sister that just followed them around. Hell, he and she had been the closest for many years. And she was super close to Alex as well, not just as her brother’s friend. 

“So, if you guys were super close, why wasn’t she in the band originally?” Billy asked. 

“I’ll take this one boys,” Julie laughed, giving all the boys a look. “I was eleven, almost twelve when they formed the band and I was in my shy phase and only was performing for my stuffed animals. By the time I outgrew that phase they had their own thing and at the time it wasn’t what I wanted.” Julie was mostly telling the truth. It was the truth at least until she was fourteen. By that time, Bobby was in the band and he did not want her in the band at all. She really didn’t vocalize wanting to join knowing that he would shoot it down immediately. She didn’t need the band breaking up because of her and by the time she and Luke were dating she decided that it would just be a terrible idea. If she and Luke broke up, which they did, it would’ve torn the band apart at the time. 

“Yeah, we really wanted her to join by honestly the timing wasn’t right. But, it is right now,” Reggie smiled, winking at the camera. 

“So, tell me about your new single, and is there any more to come?” Billy changed the subject. 

“On more music, you all need to stay tuned, something is definitely brewing,” Alex replied, grabbing Luke’s shoulders, and shaking him. 

“With Bright though, I wrote it while on tour,” Luke explained, “Once Julie joined in with us, we reworked it a little to add piano and then worked it to spotlight her awesome voice.” Julie's facade broke for a second and she turned towards Luke, her eyebrow raised. Had Luke actually paid her a compliment? 

“Well I will say, I loved the song! Stay tuned because, after the commercial break, Julie and the Phantoms will be performing their new single Bright.” One of the crew members yelled clear and the band jumped out of their seats to get ready for their performance. They all started messing with their instruments while hair and makeup came and did touch-ups. They got a 2-minute call and Julie walked into the hallway right next to the stage to calm herself down.

“Hey are you okay?” A voice asked behind her. Julie turned around to find Luke, hands in his pockets, standing by the door to the stage. 

“Go away Luke, I’m not in the mood right now,” Julie mumbled, fidgeting with her hands. 

“I’m not here to be a dick,” Luke took a step forward. “You look like you are going to puke. I wanted to make sure you were okay. Can’t have our lead singer puking all over the stage.”

“Honestly, I’m terrified. You saw all the comments Luke, a lot of people are angry. They think I’m just this terrible pop singer who has no business performing with you guys. They are all expecting me to fail tonight.” Julie looked down at her feet.

“Of course, I’ve seen those comments. They piss me off, they piss all of us. You know you have a killer voice, Julie, okay; we all know that. I’ll say a lot of shit, but I’ll never deny that you aren’t a talented singer. Now let’s go out there a prove all of the internet trolls wrong. Hell, after this performance they are going to ask if we deserve to perform with you.” Luke gave her a little smile and playfully punched her in the arm. 

“30 seconds!” A PA called out. 

“Let’s go,” Julie said a small smile on her face. 

The performance started with Julie on the piano as she sang the intro of the song. 

_Sometimes I think I'm falling down_

_I wanna cry, I'm calling out_

_For one more try to feel alive_

_And when I feel lost and alone_

_I know that I can make it home_

_Fight through the dark and find the spark_

_Life is a risk, but I will take it_

_Close my eyes and jump_

_Together, I think that we can make it_

_Come on, let's run_

Then the guys came in and Julie stood up from her piano and went to center stage to sing the next part to the audience. Once Luke’s part came in, Julie went and dance around with her brother and Alex. Reggie ran over to Luke’s mic for their little duet before the chorus. For the chorus, Julie and Luke both sang out to the audience at their respective mic stands. They finished the chorus with both of them hitting the high note and the audience went nuts. 

When it was time for Luke’s next solo, Julie felt a pull. In rehearsal, the two just stood at their respective mic stands. Julie didn’t know if it was the conversation in the hallway or the adrenaline of being on live tv, but she ran over to him. She held out her mic for him and he followed her over to the center of the stage. Alex and Reggie looked at each other with a smile. Luke and Julie both starred into each other’s eyes as he sang the words. 

_In times that I doubted myself_

_I feel like I needed some help_

_Stuck in my head with nothing left_

Once it was time for Julie’s part, she pulled the mic back up to her mouth and she turned to face out front, leaning forward. Luke following her lead, turned to match her pose, and played his guitar in the same direction. He was right next to her to where the guitar was very close to touching her side. 

_And when I feel lost and alone_

_I know that I can make it home_

_Fight through the dark and find the spark_

Once Julie was done with her solo, Luke went back to his mic stand and started singing with the rest of the band while Julie belted out high notes. The boys all looked at Julie with proud looks as she kept belting. They finished the song with Luke and Julie holding out the high note on the last word. The audience went nuts and the band all soaked it in for a minute. Finally, Alex jumped out from behind his drum set and trapped Julie into a big hug, with Reggie and Luke joining in a second later. 

“That was Julie and the Phantoms with their new single Bright, streaming everywhere!” Billy said into his mic and then they cut to commercial. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Charlie is reading fanfiction... my little self-confidence cannot handle this.  
> Anyways, obviously, the song is Still Into You by Paramore but in this universe, Julie wrote it.  
> I should just warn people, Bobby and Luke's parents aren't great people in this story.  
> There is a lot of social media in the rest of the story and the captions and comments will contain a lot of vine and TikTok references so if you are a little confused, those are what those are.  
> Also, I didn't cuss a lot in this one surprisingly. I'm writing chapter 7 right now and I feel like every other word is fuck. Oops.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi uh, so I wrote this. This was actually an idea for a story I had years ago and was thinking about it recently and how well it could work with Julie and the Phantoms with some adjustments. I'm not exactly proud of the first chapter but I'm sick of staring at it so I decided to post it. I have six chapters already written but I'm slowly going through and editing them in case I want to change some major things.


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